Cigarette extinguishing and disposal means



July 24, 1951 L, THW 2,561,829

CIGARETTE EXTINGUISHING AND DISPQSAL MEANS Patented July 24, 1951CIGARETTE nx'rmcmsmno m DISPOSAL MEANS Fordyce L. Thwing, Washington, D.assignor to Reed Research, Inc.,

Washington, 11. 0.

Application June 19, 1946, Serial No. 677,838

This invention relates to devices for extinguishing cigarettes or thelike, and particularly to such devices having incorporated therein meansfor snufiing and ejecting the extinguished cigarette in a novel andefficient manner, and particularly in a manner which reduces scatteringof ashes and partially burnt tobacco.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a device forpositively extinguishing or snuffing out a, cigarette or the like, andpositively disposing of the stub byejecting it into an ash tray or otherreceptacle without causing the hand of the operator to come in contactwith ashes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for extinguishinga cigarette or the like, and having incorporated therein means'for'posttively ejecting the stub and disposing of it by a simplelateral or tilting movement or the device.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device as in theforegoing objects wherein the extinguls'hing device comprises a barreladapted to receive the lighted cigarette or the like, which is normallyin a predetermined position, preferably an upright position, and whichdevice positively ejects the stub from the barrel by tilting the barrelto a second position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device as describedwhich is inexpensive to manufacture from the standpoint of materials, iseasy to fabricate and assemble and is attractive in appearance.

Further objects and numerous of the advantages of my invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description and the annexeddrawing, wherein Figure 1 is a side view of an ash tray having myinvention mounted thereon, a portion of the ash tray being broken away.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of Figure1, with parts illustrated in elevation.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the extinguishing and ejecting mechanism ofFigure 1.

Referring to the drawings, numeral Ill designates an ash tray which maybe an ash-receiving receptacle of generally conventional form, thereceptacle or tray having a portion at the bottom dished upwardly orinwardly, as shown at H. Upstanding from the portion H is a plate 12,

which forms a cam surface as will be descrihedu 3. .23 at the lower endlocated in the bore 20. Nu-

6 Claims. (Cl. ISL-235) the cam surface being heart-shaped, that iscorresponding to the shape of the upper portion of a heart as shown. Thecam plate I2 is centrally located as respects the ash tray lo. Numerall3 designate; a round elongated barrel member having a slight taper, asshown, and the lower part of which is rounded in hemispherical form, asshown. The barrel member 13 has a transverse slot H in its bottomportion as may be seen on Figure 2, and the barrel member is fitted downover the cam plate it, or in other words, the cam plate l2 fits into theslot 14. The barrel memher 13 is pivoted to the cam plate I2, the barrelmember I 3 being journalled on a pin 25 which extends transverselythrough the lower part of the barrel member l3 and cam plate 12, asshown on Figures 1 and ,2. I

The barrel member l3 has a bore 15 in its upper portion or a size tosnugly receive the lighted end of a burning cigarette or the like.Numeral l6 designates a relatively small counter-bore con necting withanother larger bore 20 which extends longitudinally through theremaining distance of the barrel member l3, the slot I l, of course,communicating with the bore 20. In the bore 20 and extending through thecounter bore 1'6 in which its fits nicely is a plunger member lacomprising a stem having a disc 2! at the upper end located in bore 15,and having a disc meral 22 designates a coil spring which i around thestem of the plunger I'll, and the lower end of which bears against thedisc 23 at the lower end of the stem, and the upper end of which engagesthe shoulder at the upper end of the bore 20, The disc 23 at the lowerend of the stem l9 normally bears against a cam follower or steel ball24 so that the ball is urged downwardly relativciy to the barrel l3, andwhen the barrel I3 is in an up-right position, as shown in Figure 1, theball enga es and latches so to speak in the indentation or notch l2 inthe central upper part or the heart-shaped cam. plate 12. Due to thethrust exerted against the ball 24 by the coil spring 2.2, it will beseen, of course, that the arrangement normally holds the barrel l3 in avertical up-right position.

When the barrel member [3 is tilted or rotated to right or left by meansof applying the finger to rthesidc oi thebarrel, the ball 24 is causedto ride up on a higher'portion of the cam plate l2, forcing the plungermember [9 upwardly in the barrel ['3 and compressing the coil spring 22.If the barrel member is then released, sincethe thrust exerted by thecoil spring 22 against the ball 24 is not normal to thesurface of thecam plate [2 there being a component of force in a direction towards thecenter of the cam plate [2, the barrel member [3 will automaticallyreturn to a vertical up-right position, latching itself in thatposition.

Thus in the operation of the device when ,a lighted cigaretteis tobeextinguished; the lighted porting member for limited pivotal movement ina s' gle plane from a normal position, an ejector mounted within saidreceiving member for reciprocable movement with respect to thelongitudinal axis thereof, a cam follower movable 7 within saidreceiving member and engaging said end is simply inserted in the bore [5and this action quickly extinguishes the cigarette. The

barrel I3 is then tilted with the finger, either to" the right or left,and as described above,fithe plunger [9 moves outwardly, that isupwardly, in the barrel l3, and the disc 2! at the upperend of theplunger forces or ejects theextinguished stub out of barrel l3, and itdrop into the tra o receptacle l0. i, i,

From the foregoing it will be seen. that the device positivelyextinguishes the cigarette and ejects it into the tray automatically asa result w of the tilting of the barrel l 3 The extinguished stub is nottouched by the hand of the operator,

and the nature of the operation is such that the disposal of thecigarette is accomplishedin a clean manner, since the extinguished stubis positively ejected from the barrel l3 and caused to drop into thetray. The positive action of the plunger 19 insures against ashes,tobaccoor fragments of-paper sticking in the bore l5,'or otherwisefouling it. The butt When disposed into the tray is in the form of auniform, straight and slightly compressed stubgso that scattering camsurface and the facing extremity of said ejector, and resilient meansfornormally maintaining said ejector and follower in retracted positionwith said follower engaging said cam surface, pivotal movement of saidreceiving member moving said follower along said cam surface and'advancing said ejector to eject a cigarette from said receiving member,the engagement of said follower with said cam surface returning "saidreceiving member'to said normal position. 3. In a cigaretteextinguisher, a supporting member having a cam surface, a cigarettereceiving member oscillatably mounted upon said supporting member forlimited movement from a normal position, an ejector mounted within said1 receiving member for reciprocable movement with respect to thelongitudinal axis thereof, a cam follower movable within said receivingmemoffashes or .bits of tobacco is eliminated or reduced to a minimum,"As pointed out, this is accomplished without the operators touching theextinguished stub and With a positive action which prevents any foulingof the operative parts; The foregoing is a representationof apreferred'form of my invention, and it is" 'tofbe understood that the inventionmay be practiced in other forms and embodiments, all falling with in thescope and domain of my invention, and the invention is, therefore, to belimited only in'accordance with the claims appended hereto. I claim: 1.In a cigarette extinguisher, a supporting, member having a pair of camsurfaces with an indentation therebetween, a cigarettefreceiving memberpivotally mounted upon said supporting member for limited pivotalmovement in a single plane in either direction from a normal position,an ejector mounted within said receiving mem ber for reciprocablemovement' with respect to thelongitudinal axis'thereof, a followermovable within said receiving member and engaging said cam surface andthe facing extremity pf said ejector, and resilient means for normallymain taining said ejector and follower in retracted position with said'follower' engaging the indenta' tion between said cam surfaces,pivotal movement of said receiving member in either direction from saidnormal position moving said fol- ,lower along one of said cam surfacesand adber and engaging said cam surface and the facing extremity of saidejector, and resilient means for normally maintaining said ejector andfollower in retracted position with said follower engaging, said camsurface, movement of said receiving member moving said follower alongsaid cam surface and advancing said ejector to eject a cigarette fromsaid receiving member, the

engagement of said follower with said cam surface returning saidreceiving member to said normal position.

4. In a cigarette extinguisher, a supporting member having a camsurface, a cigarette receiving member oscillatably mounted upon saidsupporting member for limited movement from a "normal position, ejectingmeans mounted within said receiving member for reciprocable movementwith respect to the longitudinal axis thereof, and resilient means fornormally maintaining said ejecting means in retracted position withthe'inner extremity of said ejecting means engaging said cam surface,movement of said receiving member advancing said ejecting means alongsaid cam surface to eject a cigarette from said receiving member, theengagement of said ejecting means with said cam surface returning saidreceiving member to said normal position; 5. A combination ash tray,cigarette extinguisher and ejector including a supporting member fixedon said tray and having a cam surface, a cigarette receiving memberpivotally mounted upon said supporting member for limited pivotalmovement in a single plane'from a normal position, an ejector mountedwithin said receiving member for reciprocable movement with respect tothe longitudinal axis thereof, a cam follower movable within saidreceiving member and engaging said cam surface and the facing extremityof said ejector, and resilient means fornormally maintaining saidejector and follower in retracted position with said follower ment ofsaid receiving member advancing said 1 ejecting means along said camsurface to eject a cigarette from said receiving member, the engagementof said ejecting means with said cam surface returning said receivingmember to normal position.

FORDYCE L. THWING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,410,954 Pollock Mar. 28, 19222,311,926 Brand Feb. 23. 194

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 448,537 Great Britain June '10, 1936

